Capital…
It's been a week since Eli and Kayden went together to search for clues in the Asani village.
Leon and the rest were restless when they received the reports a few days ago.
The corpses of the slaughtered asanis were nowhere to be found and the possibility of it being transported to one of the three places in the Ocean of the Great Three is extremely high!
Of course, they could always dismiss it as a simple case of grave robbing. But with the new information from Eli in the silver dew village and the appearance of the fake paladin, they dared not to take the matter lightly.
This caused quite a great blow to the people in the capital, especially to Governor Fidel, who was most affected during their massacre.
Now the Emperor is trying his best to placate the Governor's emotions, which he could clearly sympathize with.
Moreover, another shocking news came from the Portia Valley right after they received the earlier news.
Eli and Kayden disappeared!
This time though, it was not the knights who reported the matter. It was actually Baobao.
That moment when they disappeared, Baobao was supposedly in Eli's contracted beast space ready for anything that may come up during the exploration.
However, he found that instead of being with Eli inside the space, he was reversely teleported to Little Han's side.
Shocked to see himself in the cottage, Baobao asked Little Han and also inspected his body if he had ever summoned him unintentionally. But Little Han's body does not have any traces of mana, meaning he had not used magic to summon him back in the cottage.
Then he tried to contact Eli through their mind link, but his master was not responding and he could even feel that their connection was blocked.
However he could still fill the bind between him and Eli and so he was sure that Eli is safe, for now.
Leon and he figured out that it might be because somehow a contracted beast is not allowed into that mysterious realm.
But Leon could not help but feel restless about the situation, having no news about their whereabouts.
While he was in his office at the Crimson Blade barracks when he received an urgent summon.
Thinking that it would be about the situation in the Portia Valley, Leon quickly stood up and took Little Han who was also in the barracks playing with his new wooden sword with the Crimson Blade uncles.
"Daddi??" Startled upon seeing his father picking him up, he blinked with an innocent question.
"Let's go to grandma… Daddy has a meeting in the palace." Leon explained patiently.
"Ayee! Grandma!!!" Little Han squealed happily when he heard that he would visit his grandma Tehila. He always enjoys it when his grandma sings and plays music for him, so he displayed an excited tone.
With that, the father and son teleported to the secret chamber immediately where Queen Tehila was actually spending her afternoon tea time.
After telling Queen Tehila about the matter of the sudden summons, Leon bid Little Han and her goodbye to go straight to the Emperor's assembly hall.
The moment he arrived, he was surprised to see many council officials as well as the members of the Temple and the Anti-curse committee present inside.
They waited for a little while until many arrived, only then did Emperor Valentin raise his hand to start the meeting.
"I called all of you here because of one urgent thing." Emperor Valentin looked at his officials and slowly explained the situation.
"As you all know the Pope was supposedly set to come here and personally see through the investigation and trial of the curse users we have all held captive in the Court of Sinners.
However, more than a week ago we received news that an assassination attempt was carried out on his way to the Empire, in which he and his troops suffered injuries.
With that, the Pope appointed a proxy envoy to carry out the procedures and take the prisoners straight to the holy island.
That would be the Crown Prince of the Vanderford Empire, Crown Prince Ranon!"
As soon as the officials heard it, they were surprised. That is because the Emperor might have told them the news a little bit too late. Some even tried to hide their displeasure because they were caught off-guard.
"I heard that the Crown Prince of the Vanderford Empire has been staying in the Capital since the Tournament…"
"Indeed, I also heard that he was roaming around the nearby cities to sightsee."
Emperor Valentin observed the officials before he continued speaking.
"Many of you might be wondering why I am announcing the matter this late. The reason is that I have been going back and forth with the negotiations on the Pope's side to establish safeguards during the welcoming of the envoy.
In the end, I ask you, men, to help me prepare to officially receive the crown prince, this time, not as a spectator in the tournament, but as an envoy of the Pope. Let us ensure that he is treated well more than the treatment we were given when he first entered during the tournament."
Even though Emperor Valentin suspected Crown Prince Ranon to be one of the Pope's minions, he still had to put on a show of diplomacy when it came to having him as an envoy of the main temple.
Usually, the appointed envoys should come from the main temple, however, due to the Pope's eloquent wording, he made it look like Crown Prince Ranon can carry the name of the main temple as the proxy envoy.
To any kingdom in Prasinos, this move by the Pope was equivalent to endorsing the Vanderford Empire as an ally of the Temple. That is the same with the Seirende Empire.
The officials felt like the Pope was declaring favor towards the Vanderford Empire by choosing the crown prince as an envoy despite not being a person of the temple.
And so they finally understood the Emperor's words. They must unite to receive the prince as a representative of the Temple and ensure that he will not find fault in their Empire which would eventually take out their rights in exercising their joint jurisdiction towards the prisoners in the court of sinners.
"The Crown Prince is set to come back from his short excursion by next week. I know we are pressed for time but I trust you, honorable and brilliant men of this empire, to help prepare for the reception." Emperor Valentin saw that he had convinced them and finally gave his praises and words of encouragement.
After receiving the official's support, Emperor Valentin also told them the details of the negotiation and the schedules to be done prior to the departure of the prince and the prisoners.
He had proposed that Leon would lead the troops guarding the prisoners and through a great deal of debate and compromises, the Second Prince and First Prince would also join the envoy.
At first Emperor, Valentin was unwilling because having the three of them out at once is extremely dangerous. It was like sending all your heirs to war without knowing if they will come back alive.
However, he was caught in the middle, because if he would insist to leave one prince behind, then that would mean that he had already chosen that person as his successor!
And so in the end, all three princes will join the envoy on their journey to the holy empire.
Emperor Valentin was fearful about what would happen to his three sons, but surprisingly, Governor Fidel volunteered to also join the envoy to also ensure the princes' safety.
This was actually a surprising development about the matter which effectively startled all the noblemen in the room.
But Emperor Valentin knew that Governor Fidel had a different motive.
The demise of the Asanis is the greatest wound in his younger brother's heart. Volunteering to go to the holy island meant that he wanted to find the truth about the matter and see if the holy island is also involved in the stolen asani corpses.
Thinking that all the men in his family were going out to venture into the territory of the enemy, he closed his eyes to pray to the heavens.
"Oh Creator, please look upon my kin and keep them safe…"
With that, the preparations for the reception commenced in full swing. It was not hard for the noblemen to also mobilize because they had been used to it when they were quickly rebuilding the capital for the tournament.
The receiving of the Crown Prince as the envoy of the Main Temple seems to be a much easier task.
And so a week passed and all the officials stood at the Seirende Temple gates to wait for the carriage envoys.
Clad in a princely suit, Leon stood alongside Kazimir and Antoine. From their vantage point, they finally saw a few yet awe-striking carriages bearing the insignia of the main temple!
